He also claimed to “have witnessed similar manipulation of medical appointments” at the VA's Austin Outpatient Clinic.

“I am not certain of (his) motivation to push out X-ray procedures to later dates. I suspect it was a matter of too many radiology orders and not enough radiologists, equipment, or time,” Spann said of the other doctor in his letter.

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“It may also have been to make it appear on paper that the majority of radiology tests in the Central Texas VA were being performed in a timely manner to meet national VA performance measures,” he added. “Nevertheless, the end outcome was the same ... manipulation of radiology procedure dates to give a more favorable report while creating long delays in patient care.”

The VA's inspector general's office wouldn't say if it had Spann's letter or comment about calls to its hotline.

“All I can tell you is we're investigating,” said Deborah Meyer, a spokeswoman for the Central Texas system, which includes the Teague Center and the Austin clinic.

The allegation is similar to one made by whistleblower Brian Turner, a scheduling clerk at the Henderson Pass VA clinic in San Antonio.

He insists clerks here and at the Austin clinic had been shown how to alter dates so wait times would seem shorter.

Other claims like it have been made around the country. The most explosive allegation is that 40 people died at a VA hospital in Phoenix, but the agency's acting inspector general this week told Congress that couldn't be confirmed.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered a nationwide audit of VA facilities to learn if the allegations are true, and Friday asked the VA's undersecretary of health, Dr. Robert Petzel, to resign.The VA says no deaths occurred because of delays in care at Texas' nine VA medical centers and 36 clinics. But an Austin doctor this week said one of his patients died while awaiting VA treatment.

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The doctor caring for Anson Dale Richardson, an Army combat medic who served back-to-back tours in Vietnam, said he told the VA to begin chemotherapy after diagnosing Richardson with throat cancer last September.

However, he said the VA never treated Richardson, who died nearly two months later.

In his letter, Spann, who recently retired from the Austin clinic, expressed certainty that patient scheduling had been doctored, but couldn't say if anyone died as a result.

But he added, “I did see several cancer patients have their possible surgery or chemotherapy treatments delayed awaiting the required radiology tests. There is medical data that shows better survival outcomes in selected cancer patients that are operated on as soon as possible.”

Texas lawmakers have closely followed events in San Antonio, Austin and Temple after Turner, 40, a VA scheduling clerk, alleged misconduct.

A nine-year medically retired Army sergeant, he said fellow clerks “were coached into altering the desired dates on some — not all — appointments to the next available date, which does not reflect the true wait time.”

The VA said there was no evidence to confirm Turner's allegations and that no one in the San Antonio-area system had been disciplined or removed from their jobs.

But the VA network that oversees the Austin clinic, where Turner once worked, offered a nuanced response about his allegations about the facility there.

“It was not directed by leadership at all. Executive leadership did not have any knowledge of it,” Meyer said.

When asked if data manipulation might have occurred, she added: “I can't confirm, I can't deny.”